Road roller



2 Sheets-Sheet l Aug. 21, 1945;

.1.Y H. GANLEY ROAD ROLLR Filed sept. 8, 1941 Aug21,1945 J. HGANLEY 2,382,986

ROAD ROLLER Filed sept. s, 1941 2 sheets-sheet 2 Patented Aug.` `21, 1945 UNITED STATES PATENT ,i OFFICE ,.RD'RLLER" I Joseph Howard Ganley, vAppliaitioll september s, 1an,v serial No. 109,970 s claims. Corsa-5o)- `v l This invention relates to rolling machines for compacting and smoothing thin layers of road surface material, and particularlyto such devices utilizing a plurality of compacting `wheels equipped with very yieldable, resilient tires, preferably of the pneumatic type. y i l i At the present time several makes of roadrollers are utilized `on highway work, suchdevices employing usually two series of large rubber-,tired compacting wheels, the individual wheels of both, series being spaced laterally apart and the second series of wheels on the rear axle of the device being substantially aligned with the spaces bef tween the wheels ofthe `irst series so that most of the areak over which themachine is drawn will `be compacted by the cumulative action of the" several wheels. The use oi pneumatic or compressible rubber tires overcame, to a large extent, the sticking` of. road materials containing all bitumen, tar, etc., `and distinctly improved com-u paction, as contrasted with hard rollers. Such devices have been weighted wim sand bags, rock or other heavy material Vand have been `fairly successful in making andrepairing roads. l v However, the saidroad rollers heretoforerused` have, because of the alignment ofthe rear wheels with the spaces between the front series of wheels, disturbed the successively compacted areas,\pro; ducing lateral pressures and shear Which left the; stratum ununiformly compacted and more or lessiv corrugated. i.

Several successive rollings with'such devices are usuallyrequireandeventhen efiicient and: uniform compaction of the road area 'cannotbe` obtained. Furthermore, such prior devices have had a relatively high center ci gravity whenv weighted, have employed "many oompacting wheels (often from` nine to eleven)i,ihave beenin spite of such a large `number of wheels-opera tive on a comparatively narrow Width.ofroadway and because of the high lcenter of `gravity and narrow Width have lnot beencapable of use on the road shoulders. 1 Y

Itis an object of my invention to provide a, comparatively simple, highly eiiicient machine fior," uniformly compacting and smoothing a layerof` road surface material which inone operation will complete the compacting and smoothing of `a rel-` themachine to add to theuportion previously rolled, leaving one side ,of the material compacted loose and free to spread away from the previously rolled area and, in so doing, to provide the least possible side pressure or-shear in the cumulative rolling function.

Another object is the provision of relatively wide, Y highly yieldable compacting tires constructed and arranged to successively act to obtainMsu-bstantially only vertical pressure uponthe compacted area, or, in other words, to utilize compacting "tires, of such diameter that the greatest amount of at contact `surface exertingdownward and vertical compacting forces shall be employed, with thesuccessive Wheels staggered `to abut.

`A further object isthe provision of 3a compacting and smoothing road roller having a minimum number ofveryresilient, wide compacting wheels s arranged successively from front to rear at each side of the `machine on sides of` an acute angle, whereby successive outward compacting operation in the manner of a flat iron is obtained with i of a road without danger of tipping over.

Astillfurther object is'the provision in such a machine, Vof campacting wheels and tires constructed to permitre'ady removal of any one of said tires without removing any of theothers.

These and other` objects and advantages of my inventionwill be more apparent from the following description made `inaconnection with the accompanying drawingsfwherein like reference atively `wide areaof road surface, ,thereby elirn-A v,

characters refer to the same parts throughout the several views, and in which:

Figure 1 is a plan view of an embodiment of my invention equipped with vecompacting rollers; `Figure Zis a side elevation ofthe same with a portion broken away to show the ballast or load;" Figure 3 is a rear -elevation on a somewhat larger scale; f l l Figure 4 isa diagrammatical vertical section showing the rolling and `overlap between the areas compacted by one of'the front and one of th next successive rear wheels; i

Figure 5 is a diagrammatical plan View showing another form of the invention with the wheels arranged somewhat differently than in the form first described, and

Figure 6 is a similar diagrammatical view of a still different form of the invention.

In the form of the invention shown in Figures 1 to 3, inclusive, I provide a substantially rigid horizontal frame comprising a pair of spaced side beams 9 secured at their forward ends by a cross beam I and, as shown, diverging at their rear ends to form a Vgshaped rear member I I, the vertex of which is aligned with the longitudinal center line of the device. Supported on the said frame is a large weight-receiving hopper H, T- shaped in plan view, and, as shown, having its upper edges secured to the side beams 9 and lex tending in depth to a plane afew inches above the ground level. The tips of the T-shaped hopper extend outwardly beyond the side'members 9 of the frame while the body of the hopper is disposed within the frame, as shown, and suspended therefrom.

Ihe said frame is ysupported upon a series of. wide,'compacting,wheels, each'equipped with aY very wide compacting tire of highly compressible resilient construction, such as a pneumatic It'ire. I particularly wish to emphasize the desirability of pneumatic tires of relatively very wide tread surface, preferably from l2 to 1'8 inches of contacting tread surface; to accomplish some of the improved functions of -my invention. Widepneu.- matic tires,such as are used'in the landing gear of airplanes, have been highly successful and I have obtained very successful results with-Suchanfplane landing gear vtires of 18inch or l9inch width having a tread surface contacting width of approximately 16 inches, and being of a size x 20 x 10 inches, and carrying about ten pounds air 4pressure to the square inch,4 although, of

course, other tires, pneumatic or ,compressiblesolid tires,` may be utilized, all within the scope of my invention.y It is to be understood that inat'ion to ten pounds per square inchisto mean such a pressure when the tires are withoutanyload,

As shown :in Figures l and A2, a pair of "front,- tired wheels I2 are utilized, mounted on a. short, heavy front-.axle I3 which is vrigidly connected Vyby a very heavy vertical sleeve I v4 with aturn-tableL I5. Turn-table I5 rides below a large turn-table disc I6 mounted below :a heavy cross bar I'I tra` versing the forward portion. of the frame,` and suitable bearings and races (not shown). are prov vided between the turn-table and .disc I 6to facilitate turning-andsteering action o f the axle 1,3,and front wheels I2. A wide draft plate I'8Vis 'fixe'dfto the forward .portion of turn-table 4'I5 .and hasse cured thereto a draf-t bar I9 for connection. with a truck or tractor to enable the machineit'o be drawn over the ground. l

Adjacent the rear of the machine and prefer. ably mounted transversely in Athe rear portionV of hopper H is a heavy rear axle I9 preferably vstationary, and upon which widely spaced compacting wheels 20 are mounted for preferably. independent revolution. Wheels 20,. as shown. are of similar size and equippedwith similar tires tio the front wheels I2, and are Vdisposed .in staggeredrelation outwardly `of said front wheels in `position tocompact areas Aof road surface extending outwardly of the areas compacted by 4the 'spacedfront wheels I2 and' slightly overlapping thesaid front wheel areas, but'with the flat bearing sur-- face portions of the very wide -tires Ior .the areas compacted by vertical ldownward forces of the two areas abutting, as clearly `shown in .Figure 4. The wheels 2'0, it will -be-noted, Aare disposed just rearwardly of the laterally projecting portions or tip of the weight hopper.

A fifth or rear tired wheel 2I is disposed centrally of wheels 29 normally in alignment with the longitudinal center line of the machine and, as shown, revolubly connected with an invertedV yoke 22 having a thrusthead 22a which underlies a heavy bearing sleeve 23 rigidly connected with the apex of the rear V end of the vehicle `frame. A heavy king bolt 22h extends from the yoke 22 through sleeve 23 to form the pivot for turning of the yoke and its connected wheel.

A short steering arm 24 is fixed to the upper end i of king bolt 2219 extending normally transversely of the machine and has connected to the outer end thereof an elongated steering rod 25 which diagonally crosses the longitudinal center of the vehicle frame and has its forward end connected with a short actuating arm 26 affixed to a vertical king bolt I4a which is rigidly connected with the heavy sleeve I4 which carries the front wheel axle, I

The rear end of actuating arm 2li is adjustably aflixed to the steering' arm 24 of the rear wheel and, as shown, several bolt holes 240i are provided in arm 24 for reception of abolt connecting mem ber. Y Wheel 2| is positioned toA compact the 'area of road'surface between the areas compacted by front wheels I2 and, as shown, is :of similar size and equipped with a tire similar to those of the front wheels. The horizontal bearing surfacebf the compacting wheel 2I is at least of aw'idth equal to the distance between the areas lcompacted by the straight, downward4 force comi ponents by the front wheels I`2, and the actual width of the tires of wheels -I2an'd 2'I are such as to cause an overlap of the compacted' areas', as clearly shown in Figure 3.

In operation of the machinedescribe'd, the'h'opf' per H is loaded with sand bags, rocks, or other heavy material to the requisite weight forft'he particular stratum tobe rolled. VLoads 4varying from three to ten 'tons' may Abe utilized.` Thema:- chine is attached to a truck or other suitable traction means, and is drawn lovertime prepared 'road stratum. My'device is very efficient yfor uniformly compacting and smoothing road' surface ma terials for the base, wearing surfacea-ndseal coat-' ing of roads and may be successfully utilized when the materials are in moist condition before ladhesion is obtainedthrough aeration or'settling of the material. c I As the machine is drawn over the'road surface the two front rollers, as shown in Figure 3; *com-y pact relatively wide strips, the greaterpart'of the' pacting areas of the front wheels and wheels `20 overlapping tothe point (as clearly shown in'Figure 3) where all the straight line forces ofthe' wheels compact areas at least in abutment. Thus the eifectof the rounded sides of the compacting tires where the tread surfaces join the side walls is negligible since thel flat compacting tread areas of the successive wheels, which exert, only vertical downward thrust, abut. In the lfunction of the machine the central part of the road treated is 'first compacted and lthen successively outward .strips are compacted, leaving` always one side of the material rolled loose and free to spread away from the previously rolled area, the front wheels l2 and rearward wheels 20 functioning in compacting action in a manner similar to the principle of a flatiron.

'I'he rear wheel 2| "compacts an area or strip of road which was left unpacked between the front wheels of the device. Here again it will be noted from an inspection of Figure 3 that the width of the compacting tire on wheel 2| is such as to overlap at the side `edges the compaction areas treated by the front wheels to such extent lthat the flat tread surface of. wheel .2| exerting only vertical down thrust, compacts an area at least contiguous to and abutting the straight line force compacting areas of the front wheels.`

Thus it will bev seen that with the excessively large pneumatic or other highly ccmpressible tires and the structure and arrangement of the wheels,

frame and load of my machine, a very wide area of road stratum may be very eiliciently and uniformly compacted in' oneoperation of the machine. Y

The utilization of the Ilat iron principle of compacting and the substantial elimination of radial compacting forces from the actual compacted areas, prevents side pressures and shear and the tendency to undo the compaction of the previous wheels. `In Figure 4 the relative overlap of the compacting of the front wheels I 2 and Wheels 20 is shown. Arrows indicate the compacting forces and components. It will be noted that .theover lap is such that the abutting` compacted strips or areas designated by the letters :r: and y are substantially uniformly compacted by straight line downward forces only, the effects of the rounded side edges of the bearing portions of the tires being negligible since the rearwardly disposed tire overlaps the first compacted strip to such extent that the portion of the area affected by oblique or radial compacting forces is subsequently compacted by straight line downward forces from the rearwardly disposed and outwardly staggered wheel.

It will be noted that the Weight or load is suspended from the horizontal frame of the machine, the center of gravity of the device thus being maintained very low relative to the wheels. It will further be noted that the spacing of the two large wheels 20 is wide, and that, with the low center of gravity, makes it possible for my device to very successfully operate on the shoulders of a road where the shoulders are considerably inclined without danger of the machine tipping.

In the travel of the machine through a curved path, as the front wheels are turned by the draft bar, turning action is transmitted and reversed to the rear wheel 2l to cause the compacting wheels and the machineto emciently travel over the desiredpath.

The hopper may be uniformly loaded to the desired weight and in the embodiment illustrated, weights up tov ten tons may be successfully carried and handled by the machine with tires of the type illustrated and described.

In Figure 5 I have diagrammatically illustrated a somewhat different form of theinvention where the wheels are all arranged and connected with the frame along the vertex and sides of an acute angle to provide the maximum successive out ward treatment of adjacent strips of a road surface in the manner of a flat iron. Here a single forward wheel is utilized preferably mounted caster-fashion for automatically turning to most effectively and easily conform to the requirements when the machine is drawn over a curved path and the intermediate wheels 3| `are preferably mounted for steering action as the wheels in the form of the invention first described. "I'he outside outlines of the `frame 32,are indicated in dotted lines. The widely spaced rear wheels 33 arerelated to wheels 3| as are the wheels 20 to the wheels I2 in the first-form described.

"In Figure 6 a slightly simpler form of the invention is shown,` utilizing only four wheels arranged in the manner of the Wheels I2 and 20 of the form` first described. TheV frame 3,4, the outline of which is shown in dotted lines, is generally similar to the form rstdescrbed, eliminating, howeventhe V-shap'ed rear end since no fifth wheel is utilized. "lhis form of the inventionfunctions in the precise manner of the form rst`described,with the exception, of course, that aspace centrally of the'path' of the machine is left uncoinpacted and must be subsequently compacted by re-rolling the road surface.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that in all forr'ns of my invention the objections to prior art devices are, overcome. The successively compacted areas with my deviceare not disturbed through transverse or radial forces and a minimum amount of lateral pressure and' shear is p-resentin the functioning of the machine. By utilizing very wide compacting tires with the everlapping relationship disclosed, the actual areasjtreated by the several wheels are compactedbystraight line downward forces and the successive compacted strips are of substantially uniform compaction and` lie in abutting relaf tionship. The flat iron principle of successive compaction leaves one, side of the material loose in the successive rolling and it is free to spread Y away from the previously rolled area, and in doing so to provide the least possible side pressure or shear in the cumulative rolling function. Thin and tapered edges of the road stratum may be successfully rolled because of structure and arrangement of my very wide compressible tires.

'I'he tires and Wheels, it will be seen, may be separately and readily removed, each independen With my improved structure the layer of road surfacey material compacted is left smooth, substantially free of longitudinal ridges which are left after initial and even subsequent rolling with the prior art machines. The width of the tires utilized, arrangement of the wheels', and specific overlapping relationship produce a highly efcient smoothing action as well as a uniform compaction upon initial rolling, and subsequent rolling is seldom needed.

In the forms of the invention utilizing more than two series of wheels, such as the form shown in Figuresl to 3, inclusive, and the form diagrammatically shown in Figure 5, it will be seen that in traveling over an undulated road surface extending longitudinally of the path of travel, that one wheel or one set of wheels may not contact the ground at some times, in which instance greater compression is imparted through the compacting wheels to cause greater compaction of the upwardundulation or bump and consequent leveling effect in an eilicient manner.

It will, of course, be understood that various changes may be made in the form, details, ar-

rangements and proportions of the parts without departing from the scope of my invention What is` claimed is: 1. A rolling machine for compacting and smoothing layers of road surfacing material having iii-combination aweightcarryngframe, precisely :two substantially co-axial, tire-equipped compacting wheelsI spaced apart a.Y distance slightly less than; the Width ofsaid tires for Supe porting. the -front of said frame, precisely two sub- ,stazntially co-axial, ,tired-equipped compaoting wheels spaced apart a distance slightly less than three times thewidthof one of-said tiresfor supporting the rearward portion ofy said frame, said second pair of wheels being disposedA outwardly and laterally of said first mentioned pair in staggered relation thereto f'or successive compacting operation von a road surf-ace anda fifth tireequipped .compaeting wheel mounted rearwardly of said last mentionedy pair of wheels and disposed substantially in alignment with the space between said rstmentioned pair of -wheels and connected with said frame :for also serving to support the rear portion thereof, the tires of said five wheels being of similar width and compres-sibility whereb the successive areas of road surface compacted by downwardly directed forces will at least abut to ycurnulatively compact a substantially continuous road surface, said five wheels only supporting. the frame and weight carried thereby.

2. The structure set yforth in clainrl, and a mounting for said first mentioned pair of wheels connected tosaid frame for swinging action of said rstpair in unison for steering purposes, a mounting for said last mentioned rear wheel connected with said frame for swinging action thereof, also for steering purposes and a steering connection between said mountings for swinging said rearmost wheel in a-direction opposite to and in tire-equipped compacting wheels spaced a distance slightly less than three times the width of atire, mounted co -axially on said frame and supporting the rearward portion of said frame and having. no intervening wheels therebetween, said second pair of wheels thereby being disposed outwardly and laterally ofv said first mentioned pair instaggered relation theretoffor successive compact-ing operations on a road surface, and a fifth resilient tire-equipped compactingwheel. mounted rearwardly of said last mentioned pair of wheels and disposed substantially in alignment with the space between said iirst mentioned pair of ,wheelsy and having'wide tread widths in excess of l2 inches of cont'active tread surfaces wherebywithin the range of weights utilized for standard compacting pressures for road surfacing materials, said tires are flattened throughout a Very great percentage of the tread 'areas in contact with the road and apply almost entirely, downward, vertical, compacting force, the spacing and arrangement of said series of wheels being such that the successive areas of the road surface com--A pacted by only downward vertical forces will at least .abut to cumulatively compact a substantiallycontinuous road surface. Y

` JOSEPH HOWARD GANLEY. 

